Crowds, including a healthy contingent of local and national Senegalese press, packed Pikine stadium and the rooftops of surrounding buildings to witness the first United Against Malaria / Xeex Sibbiru (‘Fight Against Malaria’ in the local Wolof dialect) Celebrity Cup last week.

The much anticipated match pitted Senegal’s football legends against a team comprised of contemporary Senegalese footballers and famed musicians, including Blackburn Rovers El-Hadji Diouf and grammy-award winning singer Youssou NDour. Both teams wore uniforms featuring the UAM and Xeex Sibbiru crests.

The good-natured competition saw the two teams exchanging lots of goals and friendly trash talk knowing that win or lose, both teams were accomplishing their ultimate goal…raising awareness about malaria. The match, which will be aired on national TV later this week, featured speeches by Youssou NDour and other noted players encouraging the people of Senegal to use mosquito nets and seek treatment for malaria. TV broadcasters joined the chorus of voices speaking out against malaria, taking time out from their match coverage to acknowledge the UAM campaign and it’s significance.

Players and musicians alike also used the occasion to record a public service announcement for United Against Malaria that will air on TV alongside the match and throughout the coming months in Senegal. Learn more about the United Against Malaria campaign here.

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to represent MNM at the United Against Malaria (UAM) Speed Kick Contest at the Super Clubs Regional Championship in Memphis, Tennessee, one of the largest soccer tournaments in the South East. Persistent thunderstorms and tornado warnings postponed the tournament the previous weekend, but the last minute reschedule did little to stop over 100 youth clubs from competing.

The UAM Speed Kick Contest once again encouraged individual players, full teams, and parents alike to learn more about UAM and the efforts currently underway to end malaria deaths in Africa. Families flocked to the Speed Kick booth, where young players had a chance to kick into the UAM soccer net and test their speed, while learning about how a DIFFERENT kind of net is protecting lives in Africa!

But beyond the Speed Kick station running smoothly and parents happily signing up for the cause, I left the tournament feeling the event was a success because of the small victories that happened over the course of the weekend. Moments like a handful of parents recalling malaria  facts from recent memory and asking for more information or a young boy named Watson’s awed expression when he learned about the mosquito net and it’s ability to save lives. It was opportunities like these that made the trip to Memphis worthwhile- the chance to enlist new advocates, both young and old, and reinforce the support of those already aware about malaria.

For more info on UAM, visit this page.

In the lead up to World Malaria Day, Malaria No More is joining with partners from the United Against Malaria campaign and encouraging the public to send a strong message to World Leaders asking them to end malaria deaths in Africa by 2015.

Join Malaria No More by adding your name to the millions of people worldwide who refuse to accept a single death from malaria. On April 20, United Against Malaria will deliver a strong message to world leaders asking them to end malaria deaths in Africa by 2015.  We need your help!

Sign the petition here to pledge your support!

United Against Malaria is a partnership of football teams and heroes, celebrities, health and advocacy organizations, governments, corporations, and people like you who have united ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to win the fight against malaria. By leveraging football/soccer, UAM aims to raise global awareness and renew worldwide commitment to ending malaria, as well as increase the use of prevention tools and malaria treatment in Africa.

This morning in Angola, the United Against Malaria campaign helped kick off the upcoming African Cup of Nations with a press conference featuring the Angolan Minister of Health in the country’s capital, Luanda. The press conference served as the official debut of several African television spots, featuring an array of pan-African football stars, and United Against Malaria youth ambassador Charles Ssali.

ExxonMobil provided support for the production and distribution of a public service announcement featuring Charles Ssali, United Against Malaria’s youth ambassador. This spot is airing in nearly one million households throughout Africa during the African Cup of Nations and the month of January in English, French and Portuguese.

ExxonMobil representative Cynthia Langlands wrote on the United Against Malaria website about the corporation’s long-standing commitment to malaria prevention and treatment, noting, “One of the most important ways to fight malaria is through public education, which is why we think the public service announcements can be really effective.”

In addition, Sumitomo Chemical announced a series of PSAs featuring African players for the United Against Malaria campaign, which will air throughout Africa on major broadcast channels. Check out these PSAs and find more information on the United Against Malaria website.

This morning, we are celebrating the launch of the “United Against Malaria” campaign in Times Square!

We’re at the ESPN Zone in NYC to recognize a campaign geared to unite the world against malaria leading up the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Additionally, the breakfast welcomes Charles Ssali, a “United Against Malaria” youth ambassador (and soccer fanatic!), visiting from Uganda. Also in attendance is UN Special Envoy for Malaria Ray Chambers, Chairman of Malaria No More Peter Chernin and Major League Commissioner Don Garber, speaking as “Champions” of the campaign, plus Toronto FC player Dwayne de Rosario, US Executive  Director for the ONE Campaign Sheila Nix and United Methodist Church Bishop Thomas Bickerton.

To bring these champions together in friendly competition, we set up a Speed Kick challenge to see who can kick a soccer ball with the most speed to help us reach our goal of ending malaria deaths. The winner has yet to be determined (the champions are still firing away), but results will be in soon!

Be sure to check back on our blog and United Against Malaria sites (Facebook / Twitter) for pictures from the event of the champions, speed kick winner and a surprise guest…

On Saturday, August 1st, FC Barcelona kicked off their U.S. Summer Tour in Los Angeles with a winning game against the LA Galaxy. The biggest win for us was when a crowd of 90,000 fans cheered as the FC Barcelona team entered the field in United Against Malaria jerseys, and watched the United Against Malaria video that played overhead on the stadium’s jumboTron. Not at the game? You can still catch the nets that made these soccer stars superstars.

United Against Malaria Presentation from United Against Malaria on Vimeo.

FC Barcelona, Malaria No More and others have United Against Malaria — and the effort’s drawing national attention from feature stories in today’s New York Times and Seattle Times! Read quotes from both articles below.

Marta Segu, executive director of the FC Barcelona Foundation, in the New York Times: For Barca, our motto for 110 years has been ‘More Than a Club. This time we said, O.K., we have a responsibility with society around the world.

MNM’s own Scott Case in the New York Times: Malaria is one of the biggest killers of children in the world. This is part of a building movement in the football community with partners in Europe, Africa, the United States and Canada that is rallying around a push toward the World Cup. And the fact is it is a completely treatable and preventable disease. This is an extraordinary opportunity and we’re winning this battle.

Gabrielle Fitzgerald, senior program officer at the Gates Foundation, in the Seattle Times: The world of football has expanded a lot, and they’re making a lot of money. So it’s a social responsibility to give back to society what the society has given to the club for 110 years.

Read more about United Against Malaria here.

Barca Takes to the Field to Battle LA Galaxy and Malaria

This weekend, Malaria No More joined our partner FC Barcelona in Los Angeles for the kick-off of their US tour. In addition to a game against the LA Galaxy, Barca was in town to celebrate the United Against Malaria campaign.

At a dinner hosted by AEG and the LA Galaxy to welcome FC Barcelona to the United States, partners from throughout the soccer world joined together to announce their commitment to United Against Malaria—a coalition of football teams and heroes, celebrities, health and advocacy organizations, governments, corporations and people like you who have united ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to win the fight against malaria.

New United Against Malaria Champions were announced at the event, adding the support of Tim Leiweke (President and CEO of AEG), Don Garber (Commissioner of Major League Soccer) and Joan Laporta (President of FC Barcelona). LA Galaxy star Landon Donovan announced that he will be a United Against Malaria Captain.

At the game on Saturday night, Barca players took to the field in United Against Malaria t-shirts to help raise awareness and the crowd of 90,000 learned about the campaign on the jumbo-tron and on messaging throughout the field. Soccer’s commitment to ending malaria deaths is unprecedented—thanks to our Champions and Captains for joining the winning team against malaria!

FC Barcelona dug their cleats in the field in Africa on their way over to the U.S., before kicking off their summer tour this weekend. Last month, the FC Barcelona Foundation arranged for another mosquito net distribution at their local community XICS center in Richard Toll, Senegal. At the center, 1500 bed nets were distributed to cover families in the neighborhood, including the 218 children that attend the center, which helps provide access to education and health services. With the rainy season approaching, the community was especially grateful for their gift of a mosquito net to give malaria the boot — once and for all!

Saturday, FCB will kick off their U.S. tour in Los Angeles, where they will take on the LA Galaxy. They will then make their way up to Seattle to battle the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday and face off with Mexican team Chivas de la Guadelajara in San Francisco the following Saturday.

Can’t make it to the games? Catch all three on Fox Soccer Channel, who will be donating a mosquito net for ever goal scored on the tour!

Professional “footballer” for Dundee United, Prince Buaben, was just diagnosed with malaria following a trip to his home country of Ghana.  When Buaben traveled home last month, he was supplied with enough anti-malaria drugs to last the entirety of his trip.  When he decided to stay a little longer on vacation, however, Buaben ran out of the medication…and didn’t re-stock.

I think you can see where this is going.

With the onset of fever, chills, dizziness, and irregular sleeping patterns, Buaben knew something wasn’t right.  Luckily, with the help of doctors in Dundee, this soccer player was properly diagnosed and treated for malaria, and will be returning to the field in no time.

Sounds like Buaben is a perfect candidate for the United Against Malariacampaign, a partnership of non-governmental organizations, foundations, governments, corporations…and soccer teams around the world!  Now that Buaben has seen first hand how malaria can keep you out of the game, he can make a wonderful advocate for UAM, and can teach others what they can do to fight the deadly disease.

My mother always told me to take my vitamins, and I guess it was good advice!  Click here to read the article about Prince Buaben in The Sun.